Climbing Trees
by whitetiger91
Summary: Snape loved Lily, always. But did you ever wonder how he truly felt about her sister? A fluffy sort of one fic written for Lamia of the Dark.


**Climbing Trees**

**_A/N: I do not own anything from the world of Harry Potter, or Upstairs Downstairs, that you recognise, and will not profit from this story at all._**

**_This little one-shot/ ficlet was written as a gift for Lamia of the Dark on the Diagon Alley II forum. The requested pairing was Snape/ Petunia, though I don't think this is what she had in mind haha. I may write another one for when they are much older, but I do hope you like this. There may be some minor SPaG and tense problems throughout, and I shall try to find a beta to read over as soon as possible._**

**_Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this, I hope you don't find it too cheesy or boring(the plot was much better in my head, I swear) :)_**

The warm sunshine penetrated through the clouds, beating down on the children playing in the small town. Birds chirped merrily over the squeals and shouts emanating from a game of rugby played in the neighbouring streets.

Severus sat up, yawning widely as he stretched out his legs. He had been lying on the grass for most of the afternoon as he watched his companion made daisy chains out of the flowers around the base of their favourite tree. Although he wouldn't let her know, Severus secretly loved the way Lily's auburn hair would glisten in the sunlight- her lips curved into a brilliant smile as she discovered the wonders of the world. She was the only child he knew who could find pleasure in the simplest tasks, and he knew he would always admire her for that.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of his love for her older sister.

Severus' eyes narrowed as he spotted a tall figure on top of the hill watching them. He smirked as he saw the girl quickly duck behind a small shrub, before peering back around its olive foliage at them.

Knowing that she would see him, he turned to Lily and nudged her playfully. In turn, Lily let out a small giggle and started swatting his hands away, trying to prevent him from putting her flower crown on her head. Her laughs carried up the hill, causing the girl to step out from her hiding place and come trudging down towards them.

He glared as she stopped a few metres away from them, hands placed firmly on her hips. Lily rolled over on her side, blissfully unaware of her sister's presence. She started giggling as she placed the flower crown onto his head, taking care to balance it on his ebony curtain of hair.

"I'm telling mum!"

Severus watched Lily freeze as she finally realised her sister was present. She quickly brushed the dirt off her knees as she got up, punching him the arm lightly for not warning her.

"Tuney, wait!"

He huffed as he watched Lily run after Petunia, her short legs trying to catch up with the long ones of her sister. The older girl continued up the hill at a brisk pace, and soon the two girls faded from sight.

He decided that his fun was over for the day, once again destroyed by the horse-faced muggle. He loved toying with the girl- he would often try to come up with different ways to get on her nerves and, more often than not, he succeeded. Lily, for her part, had finally gotten used to the idea that her best friend and sister would never get along, though she would still berate him if he pushed it too far.

Standing up and shaking the sleep out of his numb legs, he walked closer to the tree and surveyed its sturdy trunk. Rubbing his hands together, he began to climb, moving skilfully up the tree until he reached its leafy canopy. Perching in his favourite branch, he sat and watched the scenes of his neighbourhood.

He saw some kids kicking around a ball, shouting hurried instructions at each other. He recognised the group of muggles as the team his father had tried to introduce him to a few months earlier.

Tobias Snape had told him that he should learn to participate in 'normal' activities, rather than sit in his room brooding over dark novels. His mother had tried to interfere by telling her husband that Severus was a wizard and that it was normal behaviour for him, only to receive a harsh slap across the cheek. In order to appease his unworthy father, Severus had allowed himself to be pulled into the team, jogging along with them as they headed toward the park. As soon as he had been out of his father's sight, he had run from them, heading to the field where he had first spotted Lily and her sister.

A coughing sound at the base of the tree brought him out of his thoughts, and he scowled down at the intruder.

"What do you want?"

Petunia smirked, shielding her eyes with a bony hand as she peered up at him.

"Thanks to you, Lily is now in big trouble."

He rolled his eyes, choosing to not give her the dignity of a reply. Whistling in an annoying fashion, he turned his dark gaze towards the group of muggles fumbling the ball as they ran off further down the roads. He allowed his mind to drift off as he wondered what his life would have been like if he hadn't defied his father that day.

As he eventually came to the conclusion that participating in a game of rugby would not have cured his father's alcoholism, he looked down at the tree's base.

He was surprised to see that Petunia was still there, fiddling with the hem of her dress. He felt his eyebrow rise as he looked questioningly at her, seeing her cheeks redden.

"What are you looking at freak?"

Recovering quickly, he pastered a familiar smirk on his face. "Just wondering why a muggle," he took pleasure in the way she flinched at that word, "would still be standing here. Didn't have anyone else you could torture, I suppose?"

He laughed as her mouth opened and closed, much like the mouth of a goldfish would. He enjoyed the way her cheeks continued to redden and she glared up at him.

"How dare- I have better things to do then stay here."

"Well then, I suggest you go run along to the tea-party with your dolls I'm sure you have every day, or was Lily wrong?" he felt bad about dragging Lily into the conflict, but couldn't help himself to dredge up that embarrassing detail. He reminded himself to later warn Lily, knowing that Petunia hated people knowing that she still played with dolls at her age.

As if on cue, Petunia raised her finger up at him in a very un-ladylike gesture, "at least I am not by myself all alone in a tree!"

He rolled his eyes again and concentrated on removing the dirt from beneath his finger nails. He heard Petunia muttering under her breath furiously about freaks and their hygiene. He was tempted to tell her that getting dirt under one's nails came with climbing trees when an idea formed in his head.

Leaning over so that she could see his face, he called down to her "then why don't you come here and join me?"

Petunia looked flabbergasted. She took a moment to compose herself before replying. "Why would I want to climb a tree and ruin my dress to sit with a freak?"

Severus shrugged, "I bet you can't even climb a tree. I wouldn't worry though, not many muggles can."

Bingo. Petunia looked as though she was about to explode. She hesitantly took off her buckled shoes, wrinkling her nose in disgust as her socks touched the soil, and she walked closer to the tree.

He sat watching in amusement as the girl struggled to make her way towards him, squealing a few times as her hands brushed against cobwebs in the bark. Finally, huffing slightly, she pulled herself up into the tree and sat on the branch beside him. She looked down and squeezed her eyes shut, before she acknowledged him.

"See? I did that better than any freak could. Why are you sniggering- do I have dirt on my dress?"

Severus tried to school his face into a neutral expression so that he could calmly reply, "no."

"Than what is it?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I just didn't think it would be so easy to get you into the tree."

He was amused as he saw her thinking about what he said, her brow furrowed. Suddenly, his trick must have dawned on her as she looked at him indignantly.

"Why, I- you- grrr," she huffed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as she refused to look at him.

"You could always climb back down."

She swivelled her blue eyes to him after looking down, "no, I think I will stay here, just to spite you."

"Suit yourself."

He turned away from her, the fun already over. Sometimes Petunia was too easy of a target- he didn't feel comfortable at that moment exploiting her weakness any further. Instead, he settled for resuming his scan of the neighbourhood, hoping to spot Lily sneaking back to him.

Birds continued chirping in the finer branches above the pair's head as they sat in silence.

Severus soon gave up hope that Lily would return. He angled his head so that he could peer at her sister, ready to complain that it was all her fault.

Appraising her, he noticed that, like Lily's, Petunia's brown hair glistened with bronze strands as the sun's rays reached it through the leaves. He was startled to realise that she was not that bad looking- her features were rather plain, but he decided with time she would probably grow into them. She also held an air of authority that he admired in people.

He shook his head, banishing any of those nasty thoughts before they could embed themselves in his mind. A light breeze rustled through the trees and he shivered slightly. Beside him, Petunia also shook, absentmindedly rubbing her shoulders.

"I suppose you'll want a jacket?" he smirked at her, knowing that she had probably wished she had brought her own.

"Not yours, freak."

He shrugged, smiling as she continued to shiver as they wind picked up. It wasn't long before he heard Petunia sigh.

"Fine, give it here. I hope you washed it."

He rolled his eyes as he handed her the black jacket he always wore. Petunia shrugged it on before letting out another sigh.

"Great. I'm missing my favourite television show," she huffed in annoyance, before turning to him, "not that you probably know what a television is."

"Of course I do! I'm not an idiot."

"Huh, could've fooled me."

"If you must know, I even have a few favourite shows that I like to watch."

"Oh yea, name one."

"_Upstairs Downstairs_."

He smirked as Petunia's eyes bulged out of her head and she folded her arms. "You actually watch that? No, you're just having me on again."

Once again, he found himself rolling his eyes as she refused to look at him. It wasn't for another few minutes, as she chewed on a strand of her hair, that she spoke again.

"I wonder what's happening now?"

"Georgina is probably causing panic as she moves in," he boredly replied, already guessing the plot before it was aired.

Petunia nodded thoughtfully. As though she couldn't help herself, she blurted out, "I wonder where James has been going in the last episode?"

He looked at her amused, finding it rather peculiar that a muggle was so invested into a show. He imagined it was alike wizards discussing their favourite books, though he thought many of the elder wizards he had met didn't have a clue about the content of potions books. Perhaps if he was able to sneak in a few more hours in front of the television whilst his dad was out, he probably would have been able to talk more about the show.

Nevertheless, he allowed himself to discuss with Petunia what he predicted would happen next (it was rather obvious in his opinion) and nodded along as she explained her favourite scenes and characters.

The horizon soon turned into an orange glow as the sun set. The pair were busy discussing politics and class when a soft voice eventually breached their conversation.

"Tuney! Petunia! Dinners ready!" Lily called from somewhere up the hill.

Severus shifted uncomfortably, not ready to return to his home. Petunia, too, seemed hesitant to leave, but wriggled as she tried to get down.

"Need help?"

"Of course not!" she snapped, back to her indignant self.

Severus watched as she gulped, obviously not comfortable with heights. Sighing in annoyance, he shifted his body to a better angle and hopped down to a lower branch. Turning back, he took her hand as she protested.

"C'mon. I don't want to have to watch you fall to the ground and have Lily not speak to me for a week."

The two climbed steadily down the tree together, Severus ignoring the hitching of her breath as her foot slipped occasionally. As soon as they both touched their feet to the ground, they quickly stepped back from one another. Petunia wiped her hands together as he rubbed his own on his pants.

"Here freak, I don't need it anymore," she thrust his jacket back at him as she called out to Lily, "I'm coming!"

He scoffed at her rudeness, "good riddance."

Petunia stuck her tongue out at him as she ran off towards Lily's awaiting form, shoes in hand. Severus watched as she got to the hill, apparently arguing with Lily as the latter disappeared quickly over the hill's crest.

He turned around, placing his jacket tight around him and kicking a small pebble. Once again, his fun was spoiled, and now he had to return home. He hoped that his father wasn't there yet, and wondered what his mother had managed to cook for dinner.

He hunched his back against the now chilly air, walking shrewdly towards the drain pipes on the opposite end of the field. He noticed that one of his shoelaces was undone and took his time bending to tie it up- any excuse to procrastinate. It was by chance that he looked back toward the hill as he did so, not expecting anyone to be there.

It was to his surprise, however, that he spotted Petunia still standing there. She wasn't hiding behind any shrubs, so he could clearly see her as she raised an arm to him, waving. A smile made its way to his face as he returned the gesture before she, too, disappeared from sight.


End file.
